Page 14 of I’m Already Gone

“I’m not every other parent, Lily,” he said slowly.

“What the hell does that even mean?” I demanded, finally letting the anger break through.

He leaned back against the counter, his eyes burning holes through me. “It means I work my ass off every single goddamn day to ensure you and our children have everything you could possibly need. I’m sure Jake will eventually understand when his father misses a match or two so he can have the best of everything.”

I reared back. Was this what he really thought of his family?

“We don’t care about those things!” I hissed, my hands balling into fists at my sides, fighting the urge to grab the beer and throw it against the wall. “We don’t want ‘the best of everything.’ We want you. Just you! Why is that so difficult for you to understand?”

I turned sharply on my heel and walked out before I said something I couldn’t take back.

Ethan

Iwas a piece of shit.

A pathetic, selfish piece of shit.

I’d planned on going to Jake’s swim meet, but I couldn’t get away in time. Instead, I found myself at dinner with a new multimillionaire client, going through the contract details, and the client dragged the meeting out. By the time I noticed Lily’s message, it was too late to apologize. Too late to beg for her forgiveness. Too late to make it time for Jake’s meet.

My Lily, my beautiful, intelligent, sweet, and goddamn sexy wife, didn’t deserve this. Not a single goddamn bit of it. My Lily deserved the world, to be worshipped and loved by someone who wasn’t a broken mess like me.

I yanked open the fridge door, and my chest cracked, splitting right down the middle. A plate with food neatly wrapped waited for me, a cupcake-shaped sticky note plastered on top:

Hi Daddy! I gave you extra veggies. Love you! Maddy

Goddammit.

The half-full bottle of beer in my hand suddenly felt heavy. I poured the rest of the amber liquid down the drain and leaned my hands on the edge of the counter, resisting the urge to smash my head against the tiles, to physically jar some sense back into my skull.

I forced myself up the stairs, the anger and self-loathing propelling me forward, until I stood outside Lily’s door. Our door.

I pressed my ear against the cool wood, listening to the soft rhythm of her breathing. It was the only sound that kept the walls from closing in, the only thing stopping me from completely losing my goddamn mind.

Lily

“Idon’t know what to do anymore, Eb,” I said over the phone, sitting in my office at the bakery for privacy.

“I really think it’s time for you two to sit down and have an open conversation. You need to be honest about how you’re feeling,” she suggested gently.

“I know he’s taking on new clients and working hard, but it feels like there’s something deeper going on,” I admitted, taking a deep breath. “What if he’s having an affair?”

A sharp, audible gasp ripped through the phone line. “What?! No. No way, Lily. He loves you, and he would never do anything like that. I honestly believe he’s just pushing himself too hard.”

I leaned back heavily in my chair, my gaze falling on the framed photo on my desk. It showed me, Ethan, and the kids, all sun-kissed and laughing on a beach. That picture used to fill me with such warmth, a quiet pride in how incredibly lucky we were. Now, it felt like a bittersweet reminder of my happiness was slowly slipping away.

“I hate that he feels like he needs to work himself into the ground for us. It’s not what we wanted. He’s so focused on ‘securing our future,’ but he’s missing the present.”

Ebony sighed softly, the sound heavy with understanding. “Maybe Ethan feels that’s what a good husband, a good father, looks like, Lily. Provide, work hard, never stop. You remember what it was like for him growing up.”

“Yeah, but at what cost, Eb?” I retorted, my frustration bubbling over.

It pained me to see him put his career above us, all for the sake of security. Didn’t he see that he was sacrificing us, our family?

“Every time I try to bring it up, it almost immediately sounds like I’m ungrateful for all his hard work, for everything he’s trying to do.”

“You’re not ungrateful, Lily. Wanting your husband and the father of your children to be present is completely valid,” Ebony reassured me.

I exhaled slowly, the air feeling stale in my lungs. “We haven’t had sex in months, Ebs. Months.” I hated to admit.